re: Now that NBCSports has snapped up EPL, what does FoxSoccer do?(Posted by Dandy Lion on 12/29/12 at 11:16 pm to BleedPurpleGold)

quote:It doesn't broadcast anything but the EPL. If I want any other league I have to deal with foreign languages I don't understand.

The OP stated that they´d like to know what league or leagues, Fox would pick up. I doubt they´d acquire the retransmission rights to something in another language, and fob it on the American public as is.

re: Now that NBCSports has snapped up EPL, what does FoxSoccer do?(Posted by BleedPurpleGold on 12/29/12 at 11:24 pm to Dandy Lion)

quote:The OP stated that they´d like to know what league or leagues, Fox would pick up. I doubt they´d acquire the retransmission rights to something in another language, and fob it on the American public as is.

Well my original post was meant in jest. Somewhere along the way I guess I confused what I was thinking because I never really meant it as an argument in the first place. Regardless, I apologize. At this point I have no idea how I got to what I'm talking about.

re: Now that NBCSports has snapped up EPL, what does FoxSoccer do?(Posted by wm72 on 12/30/12 at 11:33 am to WarSlamEagle)

quote:Pick up the Bundesliga from GOL. Continue with the UCL and future World Cup coverage. They'll be more than fine.

FSC may fair better than GOLTV in terms of not getting dropped from packages based on the strength of the CL. However, there's really not that many good CL fixtures and they're all played at the same time on weekday afternoons. Not to mention DirectTV (others?) have UEFA with CL matches.

I think you may be over estimating the actual ratings power of the Bundesliga to fill that programming space?

I like Bundesliga and wish that it wasn't disappearing from US packages. But, it's clear from all the US soccer channels' programming that what drives the market is almost exclusively a few clubs with huge love/hate followings (aside from the growing presence of the EPL in general).

I hate this, but it seems a fact in all sports TV: the handful of most polarizing name brands are almost all that matters.

Outside of the EPL, I'd guess networks want Barca, Real, Juve, Inter and AC Milan and could almost care less about the rest.

Bayern probably comes close to fitting that profile but not nearly to the degree of those 5 above (which all command a lot of Hispanic viewers) in the US market. PSG and also Celtic (based on what I see from FOX's CL programming choices) are probably in this next level of somewhat desirable rights.

My point has nothing to do with quality of the leagues or clubs (for example: Napoli v Fiorentina is one of the more entertaining matchups in Europe of CL caliber sides this year but BeIN airs it in a slot after struggling AC Milan v Pescara and Inter v Atalanta.

Hypothetically, I'm sure that almost all of this board would prefer to watch Shaktar v. Dortmund or Napoli v. Atletico but do you think there's any chance that it's aired by any network over a bigger club playing a sadly over matched opponent or even a benefit match against a side of retired stars?

I guess my point is simply that we, on this board, as different as some opinions may be, seem to have fairly similar tastes in being interested in younger, exciting, marginally "outsider" teams for their actual style of play.

However, I've yet to see evidence this really translates into the numbers networks are considering.

AS Roma, for example, couldn't better fit the bill for the type side everyone seems to desire:

1) extremely open attacking side filled with tons of exciting young talent that's behind only Barca, Real and Bayern in goals scored and playing closer matches than any of those

2) a great story in one of the best players to ever play the game having a fairy tale season in which he could well be the league's most valuable player at 36 after being reunited with his mentor when most had written him off

3) a legendary manager, who's continually managed lesser clubs due to the controversial stands he's taken for all that almost every poster here seems to hold dear in the game, getting his final shot at the big time

4+++) an American star player

And, I bet the ratings still aren't as good as AC Milan's. . . Maybe not even among the posters here.

re: Now that NBCSports has snapped up EPL, what does FoxSoccer do?(Posted by WarSlamEagle on 12/30/12 at 11:46 am to wm72)

quote:FSC may fair better than GOLTV in terms of not getting dropped from packages based on the strength of the CL. However, there's really not that many good CL fixtures and they're all played at the same time on weekday afternoons. Not to mention DirectTV (others?) have UEFA with CL matches.

Fox Soccer controls all of the DirecTV UEFA matches, they just pick the biggest three to show on FSC, FSC+, and FSN affiliates.

re: Now that NBCSports has snapped up EPL, what does FoxSoccer do?(Posted by joey barton on 12/30/12 at 11:53 am to wm72)

I've had a harder time catching Roma games than I would have liked. Though, I suspect that that will improve when I get beIN English. In the few that I've caught, I don't think that I've seen a normal game. They've all been fricking wild.

I laughed at this from the TDSB2CTANLPBASACS (for most entertaining team):

re: Now that NBCSports has snapped up EPL, what does FoxSoccer do?(Posted by wm72 on 12/30/12 at 12:25 pm to joey barton)

quote:I've had a harder time catching Roma games than I would have liked. Though, I suspect that that will improve when I get beIN English. In the few that I've caught, I don't think that I've seen a normal game. They've all been fricking wild.

The matches have been crazy. . . full balls out attack regardless of the lead, constant attempts at the most incredible passes and beautiful goals and the obligatory red cards (that often means Zeman subs in another attacker when down to 10 men with the lead to "keep the pressure on").

Roma v Fiorentina was the best match I've seen this year.

Fortunately BeIN does show almost all of them; they're slightly better than Fox's more narrow focus on the big three in that regard.

It doesn't bother me but you may have to get past Ray's 90 minutes of uninterrupted Totti worship.

re: Now that NBCSports has snapped up EPL, what does FoxSoccer do?(Posted by wm72 on 12/30/12 at 12:50 pm to TFTC)

quote:Lamela is really flourishing under Zeman, too...

Yeah, Zeman was really hard on him in pre-season, constantly repeating that he's not getting to the next level without improving off the ball movement and seems to have really gotten through to him. His top end quality was never a question but he's now making dangerous runs and picking out better passes as well. It's the kind of jump a Pato or Coutinho have yet to make.

Only El Sharawaay has been as impressive among younger forwards so far and Lamela did miss a month as well.

I think Bradley has been a great influence on the younger players. He tirelessly works to press and make the constant runs Zeman's attack demands. He may miss a bit of world class touch but his 100% commitment to Zeman's style can't be underrated. No need to say more than Zeman choose him over De Rossi early on in some fixtures saying he was understanding best how to play within the system among all the midfielders.